Dozer Blade Assembly

ABSTRACT

A dozer blade assembly for connection to a vehicle having a vertically movable mount, the dozer blade assembly including a blade connected to a blade support frame by a universal joint, and being pivotally movable relative to the blade support frame about a vertical yaw axis so as to turn left or right, about a lateral pitch axis so as to rotate forward or rearward, and about a longitudinal roll axis so as to tilt left or right. The dozer blade assembly further includes at least one yaw actuator, at least one pitch actuator and at least one roll actuator, with the actuators connected to the blade and to the blade support frame in locations that permit compound movements of the blade relative to the blade support frame.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to earth moving equipment, andmore particularly to a dozer blade assembly for use on a vehicle.

Description of the Related Art

Earth moving equipment is available in different forms and for differentpurposes. Once excavation and concrete contractors have completed majorwork, which may include excavating and/or pouring a foundation for astructure, such as a commercial building or house, a dirt contractorworks to build up or cut down the dirt pad or ground on the site, whichmay include the area around and inside of a structure. The dirtcontractor is tasked with bringing the site to within 1/10 of a foot ofthe specifications on a grading site plan. Following the work by a dirtcontractor, a fine grading contractor is brought in to move dirt and/orgravel with a goal in fine grading to achieve the highest quality slaband to keep the waste factor as little as possible. With known dozerblade assemblies and grading systems, this effort often results infinishing within ⅜″ or ½″ of the grading site plan. Such known systemsare not capable of significant angular displacement, which limits whatcan be accomplished in grading with a bulldozer or a skid steer.

It also would be particularly advantageous to be able to use anautomated grade control system on a fine grader, but typical skid steervehicles and grading blade assemblies used for fine grading lacksufficient control to permit accurate automated control while operatingin a manner similar to a dozer. There are some specialized gradingsystems that are capable of employing automation, but the structuresunfortunately have undesirable bounce or instability of the gradingsystem and little downward pressure, which results in very limitedground cutting ability and ultimately limits the ability to achieve theintended goal in fine grading. The limitations can be due to the extentto which a grading system extends forward from the vehicle, the use offorward support wheels and/or the mounting and controls, which typicallyinclude vertically movable arms on the vehicle and hydraulic actuatorsto control the pitch of a quick attach mounting plate.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a dozer blade assembly that when mountedon a vehicle having a vertically movable mount, essentially provides aneight-way dozer blade, with significantly enhanced performance, in part,due to the ability to make compound yaw, pitch and roll adjustmentswithout binding or interference between the various movements. The yawmovement provided also is more extreme than prior art dozer blades, withturning left or right to an angle of around 40 degrees from alongitudinal axis through a universal pivot for the blade.

In a first aspect, the disclosure provides a dozer blade assembly forconnection to a vehicle having a vertically movable mount is providedand includes a blade and a blade support frame. The blade extendslaterally and has a front surface, a rear surface, a bottom edge, afirst end and an opposed second end. The blade support frame has a rearmounting member and a front bulk head located longitudinally forward ofthe rear mounting member. A universal joint having a front end connectedto the rear surface of the blade and a rear end connected to the frontbulk head is included and defines through a center of a pivotal memberof the universal joint a vertical yaw axis, a lateral pitch axis and alongitudinal roll axis. The blade is pivotally movable relative to theblade support frame about the vertical yaw axis so as to turn left orright, about the lateral pitch axis so as to rotate forward or rearward,and about the longitudinal roll axis so as to tilt left or right. Thedozer blade assembly includes at least one yaw actuator pivotallyconnected at a first end to the blade support frame between the rearmounting member and the front bulk head and generally within animaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis, extending forward andlaterally outward from the blade support frame and being connected at asecond end to the rear surface of the blade and generally within theimaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis. Also included is atleast one pitch actuator pivotally connected at a first end to the bladesupport frame between the rear mounting member and the front bulk headand generally within an imaginary vertical plane through the roll axis,extending forward from the blade support frame and being connected at asecond end to the rear surface of the blade and generally within theimaginary vertical plane through the roll axis. The dozer blade assemblyfurther includes at least one roll actuator pivotally connected at afirst end to the blade support frame at a location above the roll axisand generally along the yaw axis, extending downward, forward andlaterally outward from the blade support frame and being connected at asecond end to the rear surface of the blade and generally within theimaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis. With the dozer bladeassembly configured as such, the at least one yaw actuator, at least onepitch actuator and at least one roll actuator provide compound movementsof the blade relative to the blade support frame.

While the disclosed dozer blade assembly is shown with a quickdisconnect mounting bracket to be connected to the front mountingassembly of a skid steer, it will be appreciated that the dozer bladeassembly may be mounted on any vehicle that has a vertically movablemount. Indeed, as discussed further herein, alternative versions of thedozer blade assembly may be mounted to vehicles that will either notutilize a pitch function or wherein the vehicle will use its pitchfunction and the dozer blade assembly may be constructed without a pitchactuator.

While the unique geometric mounting relationship of the actuatorspermits highly advantageous compound movements of the blade, thedisclosure herein provides additional beneficial features. For instance,the rear cutting edge on the blade helps to stabilize the regularcutting edge of the blade, which is provided by the bottom edge of theblade, during normal grading. However, given the reverse angle of therear cutting edge, it also may effectively be used to back-drag theground surface as the vehicle is moving forward and the forward bottomedge of the blade is cutting the ground surface.

Among other advantageous enhancements discussed further herein, thedisclosure also includes a unique pitch position gage that is connectedto the pitch actuator and may be helpful to a user in monitoring thepitch of the blade. Its use may be most advantageous when paired with anoptional mast receiver that is mounted on the blade support frame,instead of on the top of the blade. As described herein, this can beparticularly beneficial when using two dimensional machine control forautomated grading. Indeed, the dozer blade assembly is ideally suitedfor use with both two and three dimensional machine controls and maytake advantage of the significantly greater turning angle of the bladeand the ability to utilize compound yaw, pitch and roll movements andpositioning of the blade.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and provided forpurposes of explanation only, and are not restrictive of the subjectmatter claimed. Further features and objects of the present disclosurewill become more fully apparent in the following description of thepreferred embodiments and from the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In describing the preferred embodiments, reference is made to theaccompanying drawing figures wherein like parts have like referencenumerals, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a left perspective view of a first example dozer bladeassembly installed on a vehicle, demonstrating that the blade is movablewith respect to pitch, yaw, roll and vertical position.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the example dozer blade assemblyof FIG. 1, with the blade in a neutral position.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the example dozer blade assemblyof FIGS. 1-2, with the blade in a forward pitched and raised position.

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the example dozer blade assemblyof FIGS. 1-3, with the blade in a forward pitched and lowered position.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the example dozer blade assemblyof FIGS. 1-4, with the blade in a yaw position partially turned left.

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the example dozer blade assemblyof FIGS. 1-5, with the blade in a roll position tilted upward on theleft.

FIG. 7 is an upper perspective view of the example dozer blade assemblyof FIGS. 1-6, with the blade in a yaw position fully turned left.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged left perspective view of the dozer blade assemblyof FIGS. 1-7, with the blade in a raised position and showing thevertical yaw axis about which the blade may be turned left or right, thelateral pitch axis about which the blade may be rotated forward orrearward, and the longitudinal roll axis about which the blade may betilted left or right.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged upper perspective view of a portion of the dozerblade assembly of FIGS. 1-8, showing the rotatable sensor and the frontend of the pitch actuator.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged left perspective view of the dozer blade assemblyof FIGS. 1-9, showing actuators that provide pitch, yaw, roll, and lift,and showing the vertical yaw axis, the lateral pitch axis, and thelongitudinal roll axis.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged right perspective view of the dozer bladeassembly of FIGS. 1-10, showing actuators that provide yaw, roll andlift, and the blade in a forward pitched position.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged upper left perspective view of a portion of thedozer blade assembly of FIGS. 1-11, showing the universal joint, showingportions of the rotatable sensor, and portions of the pitch, yaw androll actuators, and showing the vertical yaw axis, the lateral pitchaxis, and the longitudinal roll axis.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged upper left perspective view of a portion of thedozer blade assembly of FIGS. 1-12, showing the upper portion of theblade support frame, optional mast mounting and pitch gage, and showingthe vertical yaw axis, the lateral pitch axis, and the longitudinal rollaxis.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged left perspective view of a portion of the dozerblade assembly of FIGS. 1-13, showing pivotal connections of the pitchand yaw actuators to the blade support frame between the rear mountingplate and the front bulkhead.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged left perspective view of a portion of the dozerblade assembly of FIGS. 1-14, showing the connection of the pitchactuator to the blade with a spacer installed.

FIG. 16 is an enlarged left perspective view of the portion of the dozerblade assembly of FIGS. 1-15, showing the connection of the pitchactuator to the blade with the spacer removed.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged left perspective view of a portion of the dozerblade assembly of FIGS. 1-16, showing the location of the roll sensorthat measures tilting of the blade left or right, and showing thevertical yaw axis, the lateral pitch axis, and the longitudinal rollaxis.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged right perspective view of a portion of the dozerblade assembly of FIGS. 1-17, showing portions of the pitch, yaw androll actuators.

FIG. 19 is an enlarged left perspective view of a lower portion of aright rear blade extension of the dozer blade assembly of FIGS. 1-18,showing a blade rear extension.

FIG. 20 is an enlarged rear perspective view of a portion of theoptional mounting positions available to connect a blade rear extensionto a lower portion of the main blade of the dozer blade assembly ofFIGS. 1-19, showing a pattern of adjustment.

FIG. 21 is an enlarged left perspective view of the dozer blade assemblyof FIGS. 1-20, showing the dozer blade assembly forward of anddisconnected from the front of a vehicle, and showing the vertical yawaxis, the lateral pitch axis, and the longitudinal roll axis.

FIG. 22 is an enlarged left perspective view of a portion of the dozerblade assembly of FIGS. 1-21, showing the quick attach mounting bracketof the dozer blade assembly and the front of a vehicle.

It should be understood that the drawings are not to scale. While somemechanical details of the example dozer blade assembly, includingdetails of fastening means and other plan and section views of theparticular components, have not been shown, such details are consideredto be within the comprehension of those of ordinary skill in the art inlight of the present disclosure. It also should be understood that thepresent disclosure and claims are not limited to the preferredembodiment illustrated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring generally to FIGS. 1-22, it will be appreciated that dozerblade assembly of the present disclosure generally may be embodied innumerous configurations. Indeed, the teachings within this disclosurepresent a preferred embodiment that provides significant advantages overprior art dozer blade assemblies, and in some instances with optionalalternative structures. As may be seen in FIGS. 1-8, several positionsof a blade are shown with respect to a vehicle, as examples of thecapability of a dozer blade assembly 10 of the present disclosure toachieve different types of compound movements for more advantageous useof a blade.

As will be appreciated in viewing FIGS. 1-22, the dozer blade assembly10 is configured for connection to a vehicle 12 having verticallymovable mount 13, which in this example includes arms 14 and a frontmounting assembly 18 at the forward ends of the arms 14. The vehicle 12of the present example is a skid steer vehicle having conventionalvertically movable arms 14, which are moved by use of hydrauliccylinders 16. The vehicle 12 preferably is constructed as a trackvehicle, such as a skid steer vehicle that may be available from anumber of different manufacturers of commercial construction equipment.However, it will be appreciated that the dozer blade assembly 10 may bemounted on a wheeled vehicle, although this would not be quite asdesirable as mounting on a track vehicle, because a wheeled vehiclegenerally will be less steady on a ground surface. The vehicle 12 alsoincludes a hydraulic system usable to power additional actuators, andthe front mounting assembly 18 is configured to receive variousimplements. While the example dozer blade assembly 10 is shown with aquick disconnect mounting bracket 20 connected to the front mount 13 ofthe vehicle 12 at the front mounting assembly 18, it will be appreciatedthat the dozer blade assembly 10 of the present disclosure alternativelymay be mounted directly to a vertically movable mount of a vehicle.

The dozer blade assembly 10 further includes a blade 22 and a bladesupport frame 24. The blade 22 extends laterally and has a front surface26, a rear surface 28, a bottom edge 30, a first end 32 and an opposedsecond end 34. The blade support frame 24 has a rear mounting member 36and a front bulk head 38 located longitudinally forward of the rearmounting member 36. It will be appreciated that the quick disconnectmounting bracket 20 is removably connected to the rear mounting member36, and may have a pattern of apertures and use of fasteners that permitheight adjustment of the rear mounting member 36 to the quick disconnectmounting bracket 20. Accordingly, the blade support frame 24 may beheight adjustable relative to the front mounting assembly 18 of thevehicle 12. The quick disconnect mounting bracket 20 also is constructedto have a configuration with a built-in pitch angle to provide for aneutral blade position when the blade 22 has been lowered to a groundsurface and is not turned left or right, pitched forward or rearward, ortilted left or right. Also, the rear mounting member 36 and front bulkhead 38 of the blade support frame 24 may be constructed of metal platematerial for strength, durability and ease of fabrication, althoughother materials and non-plate configurations may be used for thesecomponents.

A universal joint 40 has a front end 42 and rear end 44. The front end42 of the universal joint 40 is connected to the rear surface 28 of theblade 22, and the rear end 44 is connected to the front bulk head 38.The front end 42 and rear end 44 connections may be made such as bywelding to the rear surface 28 of blade 22 and to the front face of thefront bulk head 38, although other suitable means of connection may beused, and the orientation of the universal joint may be reversed. Theuniversal joint 40 of this example includes a ball and socket assembly.Thus, ball constitutes a pivotal member 46, which in this exampleincludes a stem 48 that is connected to the rear surface 28 of the blade22. The socket 50 pivotally receives the pivot member 46 and it will beappreciated that through a center of the pivotal member 46 of theuniversal joint 40 there is defined a vertical yaw axis Y, a lateralpitch axis P and a longitudinal roll axis R. The universal joint 40enables the blade 22 to be pivotally movable relative to the bladesupport frame 24 about the vertical yaw axis Y so as to turn left orright, about the lateral pitch axis P so as to rotate forward orrearward, and about the longitudinal roll axis R so as to tilt left orright.

The present example is shown with a modified retention ring 52 thatcaptures the pivotal member 46 in the socket 50. As seen for example inFIGS. 10, 12 and 13, the sides of the retention ring 52 have beenaltered to permit greater angular travel of the stem 48 of the pivotalmember 46. This permits that blade 22 to be turned in the left or rightdirections to an angle of approximately 40 degrees relative to theneutral, straight ahead position. The ball and socket assembly wasmodified because the conventional prior art vehicles only permit aturning angle of up to roughly 25-30 degrees. The significantly greaterturning angle of the blade 22 provides for increased capabilities,especially with respect to allowing for more windrow to permit groundmaterial to better roll off the end of the blade 22. In this manner, thefront mounted dozer blade assembly 10 performs more similarly to theblade of a much larger and longer earth moving motor grader, which spansover the blade and may achieve an angle of around 45 degrees. As analternative to modifying the retention ring, it is contemplated that athinner profile retention ring may be used to provide the necessary yawstem clearance. A thinner neck on the ball also may be used to increaseangular movement.

At least one yaw actuator 60 is pivotally connected at a first end 62 tothe blade support frame 24 between the rear mounting member 36 and thefront bulk head 38 and generally within an imaginary horizontal planethrough the roll axis R, extending forward and laterally outward fromthe blade support frame 36 and being connected at a second end 64 to therear surface 28 of the blade 22 and generally within the imaginaryhorizontal plane through the roll axis R. Thus, the second end 64 isspaced forward and laterally from the first end 62.

The at least one yaw actuator 60 provides yaw movements or left andright turning of the blade 22. In the present example, two hydraulicactuators are used for the at least one yaw actuator 60, which ispreferred for earth moving capacity and stability, although it iscontemplated that a single yaw actuator may be used. The mounting of theyaw actuators 60 in the same imaginary horizontal plane as the roll axisR through the pivotal member 46 of the universal joint 40 is contrary tothe prior art wherein yaw actuators on a dozer typically are mountedmuch higher than the blade pivot, which would not enable the samecompound yaw, pitch and roll movements of the blade.

The first and second ends 62, 64 of the yaw actuator 60 are pivotallyconnected, such as via an eye pivotally mounted by a pin betweenmounting flanges, although it will be appreciated that suitablealternative pivotal connections may be used. Indeed, throughout thisdisclosure it will be appreciated that it is contemplated that thepivotal connections described may be made in any suitable manner, suchas by use of different types of pivot pins, axles, journaled couplings,bushings, bearings, or the like.

At least one pitch actuator 66 is pivotally connected at a first end 68to the blade support frame 24 between the rear mounting member 36 andthe front bulk head 38 and generally within an imaginary vertical planethrough the roll axis R, extending forward from the blade support frame24 and being connected at a second end 70 to the rear surface 28 of theblade 22 and generally within the imaginary vertical plane through theroll axis R. This configuration allows minimal reaction of the pitchfunction when introducing yaw and roll movements.

The at least one pitch actuator 66 provides pitch movements or forwardand rearward rotation of the blade 22. In the present example, a singlehydraulic actuator is used for the at least one pitch actuator 66, whichis preferred for avoidance of binding due to potential mountingpositions that may not be complementary. The first end 68 is spacedlongitudinally from the second end 70. As may be best seen in FIG. 14,the pitch actuator 66 of this example is pivotally connected at thefirst end 68 to the blade support frame 24 via a vertically orientedaxle 69 that is located behind the front bulk head 38 and forward of therear mounting member 36. The axle 69 has a cap 69′ for ease of assemblyand maintenance. In turn, as may be seen in FIGS. 12, 13 and 15-17, thepitch actuator 66 is pivotally connected at the second end 70 of thepitch actuator 66, such as via an eye pivotally mounted by a pin betweenmounting flanges that are connected to the rear surface 28 of the blade22, although it will be appreciated that suitable alternative pivotalconnections may be used. To gain the preferred highly advantageoustravel of six inches for the pitch actuator 66, a hydraulic cylinderthat is longer than the distance between the front bulk head 38 and therear surface 28 of the blade 22 was required. As best seen in FIGS. 14and 18, to accommodate the longer pitch actuator 66, the front bulk head38 includes a large laterally extending aperture 71, through which thepitch actuator 66 extends and is movable to accommodate left and rightturning of the blade 22, as well as left and right tilting of the blade22. It will be appreciated that a longer or shorter pitch actuatoralternatively may be used.

At least one roll actuator 72 is pivotally connected at a first end 74to the blade support frame 24 at a location above the roll axis R andgenerally along the yaw axis Y, extending downward, forward andlaterally outward from the blade support frame 24 and being connected ata second end 76 to the rear surface 28 of the blade 22 and generallywithin the imaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis R. Thus, thefirst end 74 is spaced downward, forward and laterally outward from thesecond end 76.

The at least one roll actuator 66 provides roll movements or left andright tilting of the blade 22. In the present example, a singlehydraulic actuator is used for the at least one roll actuator 72, whichis preferred for avoidance of binding due to potential mountingpositions that may not be complementary. The first and second ends 74,76 of the roll actuator 72 are pivotally connected, such as via an eyepivotally mounted by a pin between mounting flanges, although it will beappreciated that suitable alternative pivotal connections may be used.

This unique relationship for mounting configuration of the at least oneyaw actuator 60, at least one pitch actuator 66 and at least one rollactuator 72 provide compound movements of the blade 22 relative to theblade support frame 24. This is highly advantageous as, unlike the priorart, the interaction of the various pivot axes and travel of theactuators 60, 66 and 72 do not tend to bind, and instead permit anycombination of simultaneous movements about the a vertical yaw axis Y,lateral pitch axis P and a longitudinal roll axis R, providing much morefluid movement and use of the blade 22. All of the actuators may behydraulic cylinders, which is particularly convenient, given that mostvehicles 12 that are designed for use in construction already areequipped with a hydraulic system, which also may be used to raise orlower front arms 14 of the vertically movable mount 13 on the vehicle12. Nevertheless, alternative actuators, such as electric linear orrotary hydraulic or electric actuators, or other suitable actuators maybe configured to impart direct or coupled movement to the blade 22relative to the blade support frame 24. It also will be appreciated thatat least one hydraulic valve body 78 may be used and connected tosuitable operator controls to permit convenient operation of theactuators 60, 66 and 72. The valve body 78 may be set up using a linethat taps into the buck tilt function of the vehicle, which will nototherwise be in use while the dozer blade assembly 10 is installed.

To help stabilize the dozer blade assembly 10, a plurality of adjustablelength connectors 80 may be provided and they are connected at firstends 82 to the vertically movable mount 13, which in this example isshown as being connected to the arms 14 of the vehicle 12, and connectedat second ends 84 to the blade support frame 24. It will be appreciatedthat in the present example, the adjustable length connectors 78 are inthe form of a pair of ratchet chain binders. Because the dozer bladeassembly 10 includes a pitch actuator 66, no pitch function is requiredof the vehicle. As such, use of the adjustable length connectors 80 isoptional, but advantageously provides increased rigidity of theconnection of the blade frame support 24 to the arms 14 of the vehicle12, because the potential pitch movement of the front mounting assembly18 of the vehicle 12 effectively has been eliminated. Therefore, thevehicle 12 can have its pitch adjustment rotated back to the factorystops and the dozer blade assembly 10 may be mounted and the adjustablelength connectors 80 may be installed and in this example, ratcheteduntil in tension.

As best seen in FIG. 12, the dozer blade assembly 10 also includes apitch actuator position gage 86. The pitch actuator position gage 86 hasa rod 88 connected to the second end 70 of the pitch actuator 66 and atube 90 telescopically movable relative to the rod 88 and connected to aportion of the pitch actuator 66 that moves forward and rearward, suchas the cylinder. In this example, the connection of the rod 88 at thesecond end 70 of the pitch actuator 66 includes the rod 88 beingthreadably connected to a nut that is welded to a washer that, in turn,is welded to the eye at the second end 70 of the pitch actuator 66. Thesecond end 70 then is mounted for pivotal movement at the rear surface28 of the blade 22. The tube 90 is connected to a cable 92 that extendthrough a hose 94, wherein a length adjustment of the pitch actuator 66causes the tube 90 to move the cable 92 and change the extent to whichthe cable 92 extends from the hose 94 and provides an operator anindication of the pitch position of the blade 22.

A further advantageous feature of the dozer blade assembly 10 is itsability to be useful when the vehicle 12 is moving in either a forwardor rearward direction. This is due to a unique feature in which theblade 22 includes a rearward extending cutting edge 100, which is bestseen in FIGS. 17-20. Indeed, this feature could be utilized on otherdozer blade assemblies that do not include many of the otheradvantageous features of the present preferred example embodiment. Forexample, a dozer blade assembly may be constructed for use on a skidsteer that maintains its pitch or bucket curl function, instead ofhaving a pitch actuator with the dozer blade assembly. While such aconfiguration may not provide as favorable of tolerances, the otheradvantages, including the rear cutting edge, may still result in such adozer blade assembly having very favorable performance.

The rearward extending cutting edge 100 is adjustable with respect tothe distance it extends from the rear surface 28 of the blade 22. Thisis possible because a mounting flange 102 extends rearward from the rearsurface 28 of the blade 22 and a cutting element 104 having a rearcutting edge is connected to the rearward extending mounting flange 102.The mounting flange 102 that extends rearward from the rear surface 28of the blade 22 has a pattern of apertures 106 through the mountingflange 102 varying in distance from the rear surface 28 of the blade 22as the pattern of apertures extends at an angle. In turn, the cuttingelement 104 has a series of complementary apertures 108 in a straight,laterally spaced pattern through the cutting element 104 at a fixeddistance from the rear cutting edge. The apertures 106, 108 may bealigned and secured by fasteners 110, such as bolts and nuts, inadjustment increments of, for example, ¼ inch. This permits adjustmentto account for wear or a desired degree of aggressiveness with respectto use of the rear cutting edge 100 for cutting of the ground surface.It also will be appreciated that alternative structures may be used toaffect adjustment of the rear cutting edge 100.

The dozer blade assembly 10 permits selective use of the rearwardextending cutting edge 100. The pitch actuator 66 includes a removablestop 112, best seen in FIGS. 9, 12, 13, 15 and 17, which limits rearwardpitch of the blade 22 to control ground surface contact of the bottomedge 30 of the blade 22 and the rearward extending cutting edge 100. Theremovable stop 112 of the present example is a standard aluminum snapring, approximately 1¼ inches thick, which may be quickly andconveniently connected to or removed from the piston rod of the pitchactuator 66, as may be seen in FIG. 16. It will be appreciated thatvarious stop thicknesses maybe used depending on the extent of thecutting edge wear. When the removable stop 112 is installed on the rodof the pitch actuator 66 and the blade 22 is lowered to a positioncontacting a ground surface, the bottom edge 30 of the blade 22 and therearward cutting edge 100 are configured to be generally at the sameelevation and to simultaneously contact the ground surface. This extracontact helps to control the depth to which the bottom edge 30 of theblade 22 will cut into the ground surface.

The blade 22, universal joint 40 and pitch actuator 66 are configured sothat the bottom edge 30 acts as a cutting edge at an angle of 55 degreesto the ground surface when it the pitch actuator 66 draws the top of theblade 22 fully rearward, and at an angle of 90 degrees to the groundwhen the pitch actuator 66 is extended fully forward. The blade 22 isdesigned to grade in the drawn rearward pitch position or close theretofor most applications. This will ensure that the bottom edge 30 of theblade 22 that acts as the cutting edge stays pointed and sharp. Theblade 22 can be pitched further forward to allow the sharpened cuttingedge to cut hard ground material. With the removable stop 112 removed,as seen in FIG. 16, and the blade 22 rotated all the way forward, thecutting edge is configured to be at an angle of 90 degrees to the groundsurface, making it possible to cut and peel away the top surface withoutgrabbing and digging deeper. The ability to keep the bottom edge 30 ofthe blade 22 sharpened helps to reduce the down force or ground pressureneeded to cut into the surface.

When the removable stop 112 is removed, the pitch actuator 66 rotatesthe top of the blade 22 rearward and the blade 22 is lowered to aposition contacting a ground surface, the rear cutting edge 100 isconfigured to be approximately ¼ inch below the bottom edge 30 of theblade 22. This setting allows an operator to produce very smooth gradingresults by effectively dragging the rear cutting edge 100 along theground surface with relatively high ground pressure, as the vehicle 12is moving forward. Thus, this is somewhat similar to back-dragging witha standard blade, but is achievable while still grading in a forwarddirection. Back dragging is a very common practice used with a cuttingedge on a bucket to attempt to provide a smooth ground surface.

Once again, with the blade 22 pitched forward, the bottom edge 30 of theblade 22 functions as a front cutting edge and peals away the groundsurface. The rear cutting edge 100 is still in contact with the groundsurface and provides much greater control with respect to how deep thefront cutting edge is cutting into the ground surface, and alsoeffectively is back-dragging while moving forward, so as to produce abetter finished grading product. This function of the dozer bladeassembly 10 allows a user to manually grade and produce high qualityresults with a dozer blade assembly, which previously was nearlyimpossible to do. The shorter the machine, the harder it is to producesmooth results. This is why the long chassis earth movers often areused. A skid steer traditionally is very hard to use to manually gradeand the rear cutting edge 100 is a substantial inventive contributionthat allows this to be done very easily.

The dozer blade assembly 10 preferably includes a mast that is connectedto and extends upward from the blade 22 and/or blade support frame 24.The dozer blade assembly 10 may be used with a laser guided or threedimensional machine control system. Thus, an electronic component of anautomated grade control system, such as a laser receiver or a prism, maybe connected to a mast. Accordingly, to utilize a laser-based or otherguided control system, the dozer blade assembly 10 includes on the topof the blade 22 a centrally located upstanding mast receiver 114. Themast receiver 114 is constructed as a tube having clamping bolts topermit a removable mast 116 to be removably held in the mast receiver114. There may be times where it is advantageous to use more than onemast or to use a pair of masts proximate ends of the blasé 22. As such,the dozer blade assembly 10 may further include an additional upstandingmast receiver 118 proximate the first end 32 of the blade 22 and anadditional upstanding mast receiver 120 proximate the second end 34 ofthe blade 22.

The dozer blade assembly 10 of this example also advantageously providesfor use of a centrally located upstanding mast receiver 122 on the bladesupport frame 24. In this example, the mast receiver 122 will alwaysstay vertically oriented. The blade support frame 24 may be raised orlowered with the vertically movable mount 13 by use of the liftcylinders 16 on the vertically movable arms 14 of the vehicle 12, but iffor example two dimensional machine control is being used to work a siteplan, then the height of a laser on a removable mast 116 in the mastreceiver 122 relative to the ground surface advantageously will not beimpacted by yaw, pitch or roll movements of the blade 22. This isparticularly useful when working with the blade 22 at various pitchangles, as the height of the bottom edge 30 of the blade 22 may belowered by approximately two inches when the pitch actuator 66 rotatesthe blade 22 to a fully forward position. This is evident to the user bymeans of monitoring the pitch actuator position gage 86. If using threedimensional machine control, the removable mast 116 may be mounted inthe mast receiver 114 atop the center of the blade 22, because thesurveyor's instrument will follow the prism mounted at the top of themast 116 and the controls will know at all times the location of thecutting edge, bottom edge 30 of the blade 22.

The dozer blade assembly 10 advantageously may have a considerably widerlateral width by use of auxiliary blade sections 124 and 126 beingconnected to the respective first and second ends 32, 34 of the blade22. For instance, in this example, the blade 22 has a width of 78inches, but with each auxiliary blade section 124, 126 having a width of18 inches, when installed at the ends 32, 34 of the blade 22, the bladewidth is extended to 114 inches. It will be appreciated that eachauxiliary blade section 124, 126 further includes a respective inner end128, 130 having a respective mounting flange 132, 134, and a respectiveouter end 136, 138 having a respective forward extending end wall 140,142. As may be seen in FIGS. 4, 5, 7 and 11, the respective flanges 132,134 may be quickly and conveniently bolted or otherwise removablyconnected to the respective ends 32, 34 of the blade 22, which may beparticularly advantageous for transporting the dozer blade assembly 10,whether alone or when already connected to a vehicle 12. It will beappreciated that when the blade 22 is positioned at an angle, if it didnot include the end walls 140, 142, the material being moved by theblade 2 would tend to be discarded from the rearward raked edge of theblade 22. Accordingly, the end walls 140, 142 of the blade 22 may assistin keeping accumulated, graded material in front of the blade 22, whichin turn may assist in filling low spots or otherwise redistributing thegraded material. However, it will be appreciated that when finishgrading, an end wall may be installed on only the leading edge of theblade to keep material from spilling over, while letting materialwindrow off the trailing edge of the blade. Also, there may be timeswhen it is desirable to not have any end walls installed. The end walls140, 142 also may be adjustably mounted to account for changes inintended pitch of or wear of the bottom edge 30 of the blade 22. To helpcontrol the extent to which the blade 22 is able to capture the gradedmaterial, the auxiliary blade sections 124, 126 may be installed at therespective first and second ends 32, 34 of the blade 22. In turn, eachauxiliary blade section 124, 126 includes the forward extending endwalls 140, 142, and further forward and/or downward extensions may beconnected to the end walls 140, 142.

Additional advantageous sensors are provided with the example dozerblade assembly 10. For instance, as may be seen in FIG. 17, a slopesensor 144 is provided to measure the extent to which the blade 22 istilted left or right about the longitudinal roll axis R. Also, as may beseen in FIGS. 9 and 12, a rotation sensor 146 is provided to measure theextent to which the blade 22 is turned left or right about the verticalyaw axis Y. In the present example, the rotation sensor 146 may beinverted relative to its normal orientation and it includes downwardextending posts 148 located adjacent opposed sides of the roll actuator72. Thus, as the blade 22 is turned by the yaw actuator 66, the rollactuator 72 drives the rotation sensor 146 to indicate the left to rightturning orientation of the blade 22.

It will be appreciated that the blade support frame 24 may beconstructed in various structural configurations to accommodate themounting requirements for the various components that are connectedthereto. In this example, as may be seen in FIGS. 8, 10, 11, 14 and 18,the blade support frame 24 of dozer blade assembly 10 also includesupper and lower support members 150 152 that are connected to andextending between the rear mounting member 36 and a front bulk head 38.In this example, the upper and lower support members 150, 152 aregenerally triangular in shape to provide significant strength, whilealso providing clearance for the yaw movements of the blade 22. To addadditional strength and support, the blade support frame 24 furtherincludes at least one vertical support member 154 connected to andextending between the rear mounting member 36 and the front bulk head38. In this example, the at least one vertical support member 154 alsois connected to the upper and lower support members 150, 152, providingsignificant rigidity to the blade frame support 24. As with the rearmounting member 36 and front bulk head 38 of the blade support frame 24,these additional structural components may be constructed of metal platematerial for strength, durability and ease of fabrication, althoughother materials and non-plate configurations may be used.

Relative to prior art dozer blade assemblies, the more rigid connectionand relatively short extension from the front of the vehicle 12, whileproviding the ability to maintain the blade 22 in a generally level,neutral position throughout its use at varied heights, permits one tomore easily achieve a goal in fine grading, for example, of finishingwithin ⅜″ or ½″ of the site plan, with as little waste as possible. Infact, by eliminating the shortcomings of the prior art dozer bladeassemblies and providing a greater range of motion of the blade, suchthe significantly increased range of left to right turning, as well as amore fluid and complete range of compound movements of the blade 22, thepresent dozer blade assembly 10 is able to achieve substantially betterperformance may finish within ⅛″ to ⅜″ of a site plan.

From the above disclosure, it will be apparent that a dozer bladeassembly constructed in accordance with this disclosure may include anumber of structural aspects that provide advantages over prior artdozer blade assemblies for use on vehicles, depending upon the specificdesign chosen.

It will be appreciated that a dozer blade assembly may have a bladeincluding a bottom edge and a rear cutting edge consistent with thisdisclosure, and may be embodied in various configurations. Any varietyof suitable materials of construction, configurations, shapes and sizesfor the components and methods of connecting the components may beutilized to meet the particular needs and requirements of an end user.It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications can be made in the design and construction of such a dozerblade assembly without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimedsubject matter, and that the claims are not limited to the preferredembodiment illustrated herein.

1. A dozer blade assembly for connection to a vehicle having avertically movable mount, comprising: a blade extending laterally andhaving a front surface, a rear surface, a bottom edge, a first end andan opposed second end; a blade support frame having a rear mountingmember and a front bulk head located longitudinally forward of the rearmounting member; a universal joint having a front end connected to therear surface of the blade and a rear end connected to the front bulkhead and having through a center of a pivotal member of the universaljoint a vertical yaw axis, a lateral pitch axis and a longitudinal rollaxis; the blade being pivotally movable relative to the blade supportframe about the vertical yaw axis so as to turn left or right, about thelateral pitch axis so as to rotate forward or rearward, and about thelongitudinal roll axis so as to tilt left or right; at least one yawactuator pivotally connected at a first end to the blade support framebetween the rear mounting member and the front bulk head and generallywithin an imaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis, extendingforward and laterally outward from the blade support frame and beingconnected at a second end to the rear surface of the blade and generallywithin the imaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis; at leastone pitch actuator pivotally connected at a first end to the bladesupport frame between the rear mounting member and the front bulk headand generally within an imaginary vertical plane through the roll axis,extending forward from the blade support frame and being connected at asecond end to the rear surface of the blade and generally within theimaginary vertical plane through the roll axis; at least one rollactuator pivotally connected at a first end to the blade support frameat a location above the roll axis and generally along the yaw axis,extending downward, forward and laterally outward from the blade supportframe and being connected at a second end to the rear surface of theblade and generally within the imaginary horizontal plane through theroll axis; wherein the at least one yaw actuator, at least one pitchactuator and at least one roll actuator provide compound movements ofthe blade relative to the blade support frame.
 2. The dozer bladeassembly of claim 1, wherein the blade support frame and blade areconfigured to be moved vertically upon movement of the verticallymovable mount of the vehicle.
 3. The dozer blade assembly of claim 2,wherein the blade support frame further comprises a plurality ofadjustable length connectors connected at first ends to the verticallymovable mount of the vehicle and connected at second ends to the bladesupport frame to stabilize the connection of the blade support frame tothe vertically movable mount of the vehicle.
 4. The dozer blade assemblyof claim 3, wherein the plurality of adjustable length connectorsfurther comprises a pair of ratchet chain binders.
 5. The dozer bladeassembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one yaw actuator, at least onepitch actuator and at least one roll actuator are hydraulic actuators.6. The dozer blade assembly of claim 5, further comprising at least onehydraulic valve body used to control the hydraulic actuators.
 7. Thedozer blade assembly of claim 1, wherein the pitch actuator furthercomprises a pitch position gage.
 8. The dozer blade assembly of claim 7,wherein the pitch actuator position gage further comprises a rodconnected to the second end of the pitch actuator and a tubetelescopically movable relative to the rod and connected to a portion ofthe pitch actuator that moves forward and rearward, with the tube beingconnected to a cable that extend through a hose, wherein a lengthadjustment of the pitch actuator causes the tube to move the cable andchange the extent to which the cable extends from the hose and providesan indication of the pitch position of the blade.
 9. The dozer bladeassembly of claim 1, wherein the blade includes a rearward extendingcutting edge.
 10. The dozer blade assembly of claim 9, wherein therearward extending cutting edge is adjustable with respect to thedistance it extends from the rear surface of the blade.
 11. The dozerblade assembly of claim 10, wherein the rearward extending cutting edgefurther comprises a cutting element having a rear cutting edge connectedto a mounting flange that extends rearward from the rear surface of theblade.
 12. The dozer blade assembly of claim 11, wherein the mountingflange that extends rearward from the rear surface of the blade has apattern of apertures through the mounting flange varying in distancefrom the rear surface of the blade, the cutting element has acomplementary straight, laterally spaced pattern of apertures throughthe cutting element at a fixed distance from the rear cutting edge, andfurther comprising fasteners that connect the mounting flange and thecutting element via aligned selected apertures through the mountingflange and selected apertures through the cutting element.
 13. The dozerblade assembly of claim 9, wherein the pitch actuator further comprisesa removable stop that limits rearward pitch of the blade to controlground surface contact of the bottom of the blade and the rearwardextending cutting edge.
 14. The dozer blade assembly of claim 13,wherein when the removable stop is installed and the blade is lowered toa position contacting a ground surface, the bottom edge of the blade andthe rearward cutting edge generally simultaneously contact the groundsurface.
 15. The dozer blade assembly of claim 13, wherein when theremovable stop is removed and the blade is lowered to a positioncontacting a ground surface, the rearward cutting edge extends furtherdownward to contact the ground surface than the bottom edge of theblade.
 16. The dozer blade assembly of claim 1, wherein the bladefurther comprises a centrally located upstanding mast receiver.
 17. Thedozer blade assembly of claim 16, wherein the blade further comprises anadditional upstanding mast receiver proximate the first end of the bladeand an additional upstanding mast receiver proximate the second end ofthe blade.
 18. The dozer blade assembly of claim 1, wherein the bladesupport frame further comprises a centrally located upstanding mastreceiver.
 19. The dozer blade assembly of claim 1, further comprising amast that is removably connected to and extends upward from anupstanding mast receiver on the blade or on the blade support frame. 20.The dozer blade assembly of claim 1, further comprising auxiliary bladesections connected to the first and second ends of the blade.
 21. Thedozer blade assembly of claim 20, wherein each auxiliary blade sectionfurther comprises an inner end having a mounting flange and an outer endhaving a forward extending end wall.
 22. The dozer blade assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the universal joint further comprises a ball and socketassembly.
 23. The dozer blade assembly of claim 22, wherein the pivotalmovement of the ball and socket assembly has a left or right range ofmovement about the yaw axis of approximately 40 degrees.
 24. The dozerblade assembly of claim 22, wherein the ball of the ball and socketassembly further comprises a stem extending from the ball.
 25. The dozerblade assembly of claim 24, wherein the stem is connected to and thatextends rearward from the rear surface of the blade, and the socket isconnected to and extends forward from the bulk head of the blade supportframe.
 26. The dozer blade assembly of claim 1, further comprising asensor to measure the extent to which the blade is tilted left or rightabout the longitudinal roll axis.
 27. The dozer blade assembly of claim1, further comprising a rotation sensor to measure the extent to whichthe blade is turned left or right about the vertical yaw axis.
 28. Thedozer blade assembly of claim 27, wherein the rotation sensor furthercomprised downward extending posts located adjacent opposed sides of theroll actuator.
 29. The dozer blade assembly of claim 1, wherein theblade support frame further comprises upper and lower support membersconnected to and extending between the rear mounting member and a frontbulk head.
 30. The dozer blade assembly of claim 1, wherein the bladesupport frame further comprises at least one vertical support memberconnected to and extending between the rear mounting member and thefront bulk head.
 31. The dozer blade assembly of claim 1, wherein thefront bulk head further comprises a laterally extending aperture throughwhich the pitch actuator extends and is movable to accommodate turningof the blade.
 32. The dozer blade assembly of claim 1, furthercomprising a quick disconnect mounting bracket connected to the rearmounting member of the blade support assembly and being configured tomount to a front mounting assembly on the vertically movable mount ofthe vehicle.
 33. The dozer blade assembly of claim 32, wherein the rearmounting member is height adjustable relative to the quick disconnectmounting bracket.